3 weeks (Its been 21 days already?!)

21:31. 21 minutes, 31 seconds. That is how long our babe has currently been sleeping, by himself, in his basket, in the other room. I don't want to jinx it or anything, but I'm hoping for a whole hour of sleep in there.  

Without further ado: Pictures since the last post.

Grainy cell phone, but love the eyes and how his arms are always by his face.

Again with the arms. And dimples. The dimples SLAY ME.

Face-timing (or was it Skype?) with our GEM of a cousin in Rhode Island.

One of my top 3 favorite pictures so far.  

Sleeping baby (of course on Mom.) See that sleepy smile? I hope to get a big one of those on camera. That would require using my camera though.

And now on to all the words.  3 weeks: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The Good: We love this kid. He is gaining weight. He can sleep for long stretches if we are holding him. He is healthy.  He can breastfeed naturally when we are [both] in the right mood.  Zach and I are balancing responsibilities mostly well and he is giving me lots of opportunity for sleep, when I can actually get a nap in. I've even gotten a shower almost every other day.

The Bad: Holy cow, diapers and wipes.  I know they say newborns go through 9-12 a day, and they are right. Sometimes the new diaper seems to last 2 minutes.  Also, breastfeeding? Um, ouch.  I use my relaxation/breathing techniques during nursing way more than I ever did in labor!  Also, doesn't like the swing or the bouncer yet. Boo.

The Ugly: Can't stay sleeping in his bed. At the first flail (swaddled or not) he wakes up and needs to be fully soothed back to sleep. In the middle of the night, this takes a while with tired and impatient parents.  So we either hold him (recliner: best purchase EVER) or, I've started sleeping by his basket so I can put my arm in there at first cry and mostly successfully soothe back to sleep without him fully waking.  So picture taking has taken a back seat to nursing, soothing, rocking, sleeping, diaper changing, and going to the bathroom.  This makes me a little sad, but I'll try to add that into the rotation as soon as possible.

Today I started my Bible Study (BSF) up again.  I needed to be at the church (nearby) by 10:30. A friend called me at 8:45 as I was wrapping up a feeding session and asked if everything was OK. "Yeah!" I replied, "I only need to change his diaper and get myself dressed. I will totally be on time!"  I was 6 minutes early.  Took the me the entire hour to get him changed, diapered, soothed, and into his car seat.  I should have just let him cry it out, but I'm not that strong yet!  And then, it turns out I should have been told 10:15 or even 10, not 10:30, so I was late anyways. :(  Anyhow, time has a whole new meaning now!  Or lack of meaning...

36:18. Still asleep!